To the editor:

Government is in place to provide services in accord with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. We pay our taxes to fund these services. Years ago it was the individuals, organizations, clubs, churches and foundations who raised funds to help people in need. The government stepped in to help out when the private charities couldn’t or wouldn’t provide those services. The best example of that is Social Security which was set up to assist those who could not financially survive on their own after a lifetime of working or being disabled. Private retirement funds helped out some also. Our welfare system was also set up to help out others in need. All was good for a long time, until the government give-away programs multiplied and the tax load ballooned to the present unsustainable level. The government has to try to get back to providing the basic services and cut down on the “gimmie” factor.

For instance, the New Ulm City Council has now become the target for requests for funds from charitable organizations. They are good causes and deserve consideration from people who have funds to donate but they should depend on the private sector and they should not be considered legitimate targets for expenditure of taxpayer funds. When the five members of the City Council try to decide where the taxpayer money would go they will not please everybody and I do not think they have that right in the first place.

We the public do have that option for our private donations and that is the way it should be. There are already too many city projects to fund without extra money to give away. The City Council should not consider the requests for donations and the charities should not be asking for taxpayer funding.

Dennis Born

New Ulm